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10-25-1988 Regular Meeting e e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING October 25, 1988 A Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Clermont was held Tuesday, October 25, 1988 in the Council Chambers. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Pool with the following Council Members in attendance: Mayor Pro Tem Turville, Council Member Huff and Council Member Dupee. Other City Officials present were City Manager Saunders, City Attorney Baird, Finance Director Van Zile and Deputy City Clerk Brandt. INVOCATION The Invocation was offered by Nilsa Whitehead followed by the repeating of The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by all present. MINUTES The minutes of the Workshop Meeting held September 20, 1988, the Special Meeting held October 5, 1988 and the Regular Meeting held October 11, 1988 were approved as presented. REPORTS CITY MANAGER SAUNDERS' REPORT FIRST COUNCIL MEETING IN NOVEMBER City Manager Saunders stated that the first Council Meeting in November fell on election night and the polling place for Precinct 15 is the Council Chambers. Mr. Saunders further stated that con- sideration should be given to changing the starting time or date of the meeting because he had been approached by Millard Coggshall, Election Board Clerk of Precinct 15, who had stated that he doubted if Election Board would be completed with their work before 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. that night. Also, a Special Meeting would be needed to canvass the absentee ballots. Due to the length of the ballot, the Election Board workers will not be counting the City's absentee ballots. 88-148 After some discussion, A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUPEE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUFF AND UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED TO HOLD THE FIRST COUNCIL MEETING IN NOVEMBER AT 7:30 P.M. ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1988. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TO CANVASS THE BALLOTS It also was decided to hold the Special Meeting to canvass the ballots at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 9, 1988. COUNCIL MEMBER DUPEE'S REPORT UNDERCOVER DRUG INVESTIGATION Mrs. Dupee reported that the pre-dawn drug sweep held that morning had resulted in the arrest of twenty-six people of the thirty-four warrants which had been issued. The drug sweep was the culmination e e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING October 25, 1988 Page -2- of twelve weeks of work by members of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force. As owner of the "South Lake Press," Mrs. Dupee and others representing the media were invited to attend the drug sweep. City Manager Saunders reported that since this morning, three more people had been arrested bringing the total to twenty-nine. Mrs. Dupee and the other Council Members commended the Police Department for their fine work in this investigation. LEAGUE OF CITIES CONVENTION As the City's representative to the recent League of Cities Convention in Orlando, Council Member Dupee reported that it was an excellent convention. The League's project for this year is to get legislation passed concerning the funding of State mandated projects to cities. MAYOR POOL'S REPORT Mayor Pool stated that he had no report as such, but that he wished to congratulate Clermont's Fred Sommer on his recent participation in and completion of the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. UNFINISHED BUSINESS RESOLUTION NO. 603 Before any discussion of Resolution #603, Mayor Pool stated that he had a conflict of interest concerning the purchase of the property because his family owned Inland Groves. Mayor Pool then explained that the Resolution would authorize the City to submit an application for grant funds under the Florida Department of Natural Resources for acquisition of a 4.8 acre site adjacent to the proposed Twelfth Street Park. Mayor Pool then asked City Manager Saunders for his comments and Mr. Saunders stated that the asking price for the property, if the City is interested in purchasing it, would be $20,000 per acre for a total price of $96,000. It was further explained that the City was requesting a 50 - 50 matching grant from the State, and that the Resolution reflected the City's request for $48,000 to purchase the property. Miss Florence Pool will reserve the property for the City until the grant application is processed. 88-149 After a brief discussion of the proposed purchase, A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUPEE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER TURVILLE AND UNANI- MOUSLY CARRIED TO ADOPT RESOLUTION #603. THE RESOLUTION WAS READ BY TITLE ONLY BY MAYOR POOL. MAYOR POOL ABSTAINED FROM VOTING DUE TO THE STATED CONFLICT OF INTEREST. e e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING October 25, 1988 Page -3- NEW BUSINESS INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR MASS BURN INCINERATOR PROJECT Each Council Member was given a revised Interlocal Agreement re- flecting changes suggested by the various City Attorneys of Lake County. City Attorney Baird stated that the attorneys met and removed the objectionable sections from the previous agreement and incorporated those they wanted, including the 75% requirement and recycling by the cities. Much discussion of the proposed Interlocal Agreement ensued. The project has been very controversial since its inception and as pointed out during the discussion too many "unknowns" still exist to make a prudent decision in favor of the agreement. Indicated areas of concern included: (1) lack of competitive bidding for the project, (2) credibility of the contract negotiations with NRG, (3) lack of information to the public, (4) failure to con- sider recycling in the agreement and to place it as a priority due to the State mandated recycling legislation, (5) failure to have a County Comprehensive Waste Management Program established which would identify the amounts and types of waste produced, and (6) failure to address all acceptable methods of waste dis- posal. Council Member Dupee questioned the 75% requirement which was incorporated into the latest draft of the Interlocal Agreement and asked if the County could waive the requirement and require the cities, if they adopted the Interlocal Agreement or not, to bring their garbage to the incinerator. It was pointed out that this requirement could be waived by either the County, the con- tractor (Ogden Martin) or the bankers. Special Assessments for garbage were discussed as was the County Flow Control Ordinance. The Council agreed that solid waste di,sposal costs would increase in the coming years and that the increased costs on the County level would have to be passed down to Clermont residents. Jack Sargent, who was present in the audience, asked what kind of an increase Clermont residents might be seeing in the future. City Manager Saunders stated that the present rate for garbage pickup was $9 per month, but with the proposed burn plant, the City will be faced with increasing the present rate by 50 - 100%. It was also discussed that other alternatives for solid waste disposal had not been researched by the County such as effective recycling programs in conjunction with a new landfill, composting or a combination of these methods. It was also brought up that if the incinerator does become a reality, a landfill would be need for the ash produced by the incinerator, and the ash is considered a toxic waste in some instances. e - CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING October 25, 1988 Page -4- Council Member Turville then read a Resolution from the Lake County Conservation Council opposing the mass-burn plant concept and favoring a comprehensive recycling program. Mayor Pool called for comments from those present and Cecil Smart and Nilsa Whitehead both spoke in opposition to the mass-burn plant. 88-150 After considerable discussion, A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER TURVILLE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUPEE AND CARRIED BY A THREE TO ONE VOTE WITH COUNCIL MEMBER HUFF VOTING NAY TO REJECT ENTERING INTO THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT. As clarification of the motion, Council Member Turville stated that he wanted it known that the Council was not opposed to the Interlocal Agreement as such, but that they were unhappy with the proposed incin- erator project because of too many unanswered questions and gray areas. SUNRISE WORKSHOP Susan Pepus, Executive Director of the Lake County Association for Retarded Citizens, appeared before Council to give a brief presentation of the work the association does for the mentally handicapped citizens of Lake County and to ask for monetary support for the organization. It was explained that the programs are funded 60% by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and 5% by United Way, but there was still a shortfall in the amount of $250,000 each year. Mrs. Pepus then stated that there were 7 adult clients and 5 pre-schoolers from the Clermont area and that she was asking for Council support in the amount of $11 per day (the shortfall for each client) per year from the City Council. Mayor Pool explained to Mrs. Pepus that the budget for the 1988-89 fiscal year had already been set, but that possible consideration of of the request could be given for next year. Mrs. Peppas thanked the Council and stated that she would send a letter detailing her request, and asked that consideration be given for anything the Council might see fit to do in support of the program. Mayor Pool then thanked Mrs. Pepus for her informative presentation. PUBLIC COMMENTS Cecil Smart, President of the Clermont Area Chamber of Commerce, informed the Council that all were invited to the Business After Hours Program at Meritor Savings and Loan on Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and reminded them of the Chamber Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. There being no futher business or discussion, the meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. e e CITY OF CLERMONT MINUTES REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING October 25, 1988 Page -5- Attest: